What if Zimmermann and the German government, rather than admit the telegram was in fact real, had denied it and allowed the US to think it was a British forgery?
What if Zimmermann and the German government, rather than admit the telegram was in fact real, had denied it and allowed the US to think it was a British forgery?
I'm not sure. Wasn't the anti-war platform popular? Wilson won re-election by promising not to go to war, after all.Delays US entry by 1-2 months...likely only about 3-5 weeks. The Uboat war was increasing pressure for Wilson to do something.
I'm not sure. Wasn't the anti-war platform popular? Wilson won re-election by promising not to go to war, after all.
Delays US entry by 1-2 months...likely only about 3-5 weeks. The Uboat war was increasing pressure for Wilson to do something. Still, it would mean lots of unhappiness about it in the US, so the German-American community would push back against the villifying of Germany and Germans. The US will probably end up playing more hardball at Versailles and be genuinely divided over the declaration of war.
I'm not sure. Wasn't the anti-war platform popular? Wilson won re-election by promising not to go to war, after all.
What if Zimmermann and the German government, rather than admit the telegram was in fact real, had denied it and allowed the US to think it was a British forgery?
The British could prove to the U.S. beyond any doubt that the ZT was genuine.
Yes, but the East Coast was hurting very badly from the loss of trade routes caused by the danger of German subs and the sinking of US ships was not well tolerated, pushing even some in the anti-war faction to do something about it. The suggestion was to arm merchant ships and run convoys escorted by the US navy, meaning something could well start from a naval incident, but beyond this the loss of trade caused by the Entente running out of money could well end the demand for US trade anyway. Its not guaranteed that the US would go to war, but the sinking of US ships would escalate things very quickly.
Did the East Coast alone have enough clout to get the US into war?
My impression is that the ZT "reached the parts that other issues can't reach", by creating a credible German threat to areas that didn't give a hoot about what happened in the Atlantic ocean.
Likely yes, but only at the cost of informing the Germans the codes are broken. The USA will likely provide the information to the Germans intentionally or unintentionally.